Jimmy Liao is a Taiwanese author of il-lustrated books that have inspired numerous play, film, TV drama, and animated film adaptations over the past decade. Action figures based on the main characters in his picture books, reproductions of his illustrations, and other licensed products are part of a cultural phenomenon that generates more than NT$1 billion in annual sales in Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and even as far away as Europe and America.
Lee Yusan was born in the 1970s, during Taiwan's economic takeoff. Thanks to her unique vision and Jimmy Liao's creative genius, the two were spared a trial-and-error period such as the one that was so evocatively portrayed in Jimmy's book A Chance of Sunshine and formed a collaborative partnership that has brought Jimmy's art onto the global stage.
"I don't like people calling me Jimmy's manager!" insists Lee Yusan, executive director of Jimmy S.P.A. Co., Ltd., a company exclusively devoted to marketing the Jimmy brand. Lee thinks that a cultural broker shouldn't view her client as an individual author or an individual work, but as the core of a cultural brand and business.
Lee and Jimmy Liao first forged a good working relationship in late 2000, when she was head of marketing design at Grimm Press and helped him design his website. When Lee left Grimm Press, she worked with Jimmy to found Jimmy S.P.A.
Lee told Jimmy that she hoped to work with by setting up a company, rather than serving as his personal agent. Jimmy agreed, and he, his elder sister, and Lee together put up NT$1.5 million to start the company.
When they began their partnership, Jimmy was a middle-aged man who had survived a battle with leukemia and was determined to devote himself heart and soul to his art, while Lee was a young woman with a background in literary publishing who had no inkling of what it would take to get a business off the ground. Who could have predicted then that the dream they hatched in an old apartment would today be a cultural brand that generates annual sales of more than NT$1 billion and is loved by Chinese-speaking people around the world?
Jimmy is one of the best selling authors in the Chinese-speaking world. His books have even been auctioned at Sotheby's and his illustrated characters adorn a wide range of related merchandise, including stationery, leather goods, ceramics, kitchenware, jewelry, and consumer electronics.
Beyond the publishing market
How did Jimmy Liao and Lee Yusan go from managing an individual artist to managing a brand?
Like most entrepreneurs, in the early days Lee's management blueprint was "big on vision but small on strategy"; nor did she know how to run a brand. But she and Jimmy were very independent minded and turned down projects that did not appeal to them, even if they fell in their laps, such as advertisements for birth control or weight loss pills, or developing a range of licensed cigarette lighters. They also agreed that diversifying from illustrated books to a wider range of products was the only way to enable more people to see Jimmy's works.
Because Jimmy was a very prolific artist who brought out two illustrated books a year, his popularity sparked enthusiastic discussion on the Internet. Many fans posted comments such as this one: "You find yourself identifying with the stories in Jimmy's books, which are about people who live in lonely and desolate urban environments but still make the best of it. His books reflect what life is all about nowadays and in his stories you can find reflections of yourself and a gleam of hope." This kind of endorsement confirmed Lee Yusan's belief that if Jimmy wanted to avoid being a conventional "best-selling author" marketed by the publishing houses, they would have to extend the added value of his work and go down the brand route.
Lee began by setting up Jimmy's website, jimmyspa.com. At first, the website only introduced and explored Jimmy's works, but gradually it added membership management features and e-commerce services. Seven years later, jimmyspa.com has become the official website for the Jimmy brand and the entire range of Jimmy Liao products. The name Jimmyspa was chosen to underscore that Jimmy's books are about outward appearances as well as the inner spirit. The "spa" part of the name is intended to inspire readers to come to Jimmy Liao's works and products for a spiritual cleansing. Thanks to the sheer number of Jimmy's fans, the brand rose to the top of the Internet and quietly seeped into the lonely hearts of modern city dwellers.
The first three years were a crucial sink-or-swim period for the Jimmy brand. Although Jimmy's website attracted many fans, it could not have succeeded without a solid management strategy. After she left her post as chief of marketing design at Grimm Press, Lee Yusan, who has a degree in Chinese literature from National Cheng Kung University, made her decision to become executive director of Jimmy S.P.A. and encourage Jimmy Liao to make the transition to a brand only after very careful consideration.
Lee thinks that the biggest problem with Taiwan's literary publishing and film industries is that they are forever caught up in the latest sensation. Media attention is all it takes for someone to be thrust into the limelight and become everybody's darling. But fame fades as quickly as it comes, and when an author loses his halo, he is quickly thrown into the limbo of anonymity. Once their 15 minutes of fame are over, bestselling authors often turn to the lecture circuit, TV appearances, presenter and spokesperson contracts and other non-creative ways to make a quick buck. Many authors end up marketing themselves to boost their image, but the creativity and artistic quality that were once so important to them melt away.
Jimmy is a social introvert and uses his books to express his innermost feelings. For example, A Fish that Smiled at Me, about a fish that sees the world through a glass bowl, is also about the time Jimmy spent in hospital waving at his friends through a pane of glass. Jimmy wrote The Sound of Colors when he was battling cancer. This colorful illustrated journey was his way of confronting and overcoming his fear of death.
Brand licensing
"For authors, this approach is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. I hope that Jimmy will be able to continue to produce new work and get market affirmation at the same time. I'm also confident that he can do it." Lee Yusan insists that good books are the foundation of everything they do. Without good books, all the profits they make now are like building castles in the sand. They could crumble in an instant.
Nevertheless, the cultural creativity industry is very much about commercialization, and exclusive reliance on publishing is problematic, because its market value is too small. The only way to have a sustainable long-term source of income is to step outside the publishing market, forge cooperative partnerships, and develop related merchandise licenses.
Jimmy S.P.A. established a business model based on licensing the illustrations and images in Jimmy's picture books. Jimmy's characters can be seen in advertisements and a wide range of related merchandise, such as stationery, leather goods, watches, bedding, and ceramics. But unlike most authors, who tend to be their own selling points and "perform" in front of the camera like movie stars, Jimmy keeps a low profile and rarely appears in public. He is very sensitive about his private life. Although Jimmy was one of the personalities featured in a recent Discovery Channel biographical series entitled "Portraits Taiwan" and commemorative stamps were made for the program, Jimmy has maintained his mystique. Jimmy's stamp, for example, is not a portrait of himself but of the male protagonist in A Chance of Sunshine riding a wooden horse in a merry-go-round.
The first step of the branding strategy was to "let the author take a step back so the work could speak for itself." The next step was meeting the challenge of managing the whole brand image.
Jimmy S.P.A. began by formulating a standard model for licensing illustrations. Next, it selected a focal segment for the year and, to avoid overexposure, it set a limit on the number of book illustrations that could be used in other products that year. The second step was to ask manufacturers to propose a product plan. Jimmy S.P.A. carefully examined the plans before giving the go-ahead for use and production.
"The sole objective of this rigorous approach is to preserve the brand image. Once the mass market is stabilized, you focus on niche markets." Lee Yusan explains that once they began to cross over to other markets, "Jimmy" was no longer just a cultural brand. Jimmy's illustrations are also selling a wide range of products under famous brand names such as IF and Asus. "This kind of marketing can be maximized almost indefinitely (peripheral products now account for 60% of Jimmy S.P.A.'s sales volume), but it also poses greater challenges because we are now competing with industries that sell non-cultural brands; that is, we have reached the final stage of the creative industry value chain-that of a 'hybrid industry.'"
Adaptations of Jimmy's illustrated books have been very successful. During the height of the SARS crisis in July 2003, a musical play adaptation of Jimmy's illustrated book Sound of Colors was performed to a full house at the National Theater. Jimmy's book A Fish that Smiled at Me, which was inspired by his own midlife crisis, was turned into an animated film that won the Special Prize of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk for best short film at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival and the best animation award at the 51st Asia Pacific Film Festival in 2006. But Lee Yusan and her team did not rest on their laurels after these achievements.
Jimmy is one of the best selling authors in the Chinese-speaking world. His books have even been auctioned at Sotheby's and his illustrated characters adorn a wide range of related merchandise, including stationery, leather goods, ceramics, kitchenware, jewelry, and consumer electronics.
Onto the global stage
"A key factor in building a brand is the size of the market." Lee's long-term management plan for the Jimmy brand is already geared toward the global market.
"Although A Chance of Sunshine was a bestseller, publishing rights for this book have so far only been sold in ten countries, including the USA, Japan, and Thailand. Global bestsellers like the Peter Rabbit series, on the other hand, have been translated into more than 30 languages and have produced merchandising licensing deals in more than 100 countries. The difference in market scale is obvious." Lee says that now that Taiwan has against all odds produced an author of global stature such as Jimmy Liao, there is an unprecedented opportunity that needs to be seized. Therefore, "our task at Jimmy S.P.A. is to pull out all the stops to enable Jimmy to break through internationally."
In March of this year, the British publishing house Walker Books will publish The Monster Who Ate Darkness, an illustrated book Jimmy Liao co-authored with British children's book writer Joyce Dunbar.
"Thanks to the licensing model, this is no longer a translation, but an original work published for the non-Chinese-speaking world. Walker Books also plans to sell advance copies of The Monster Who Ate Darkness at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy from March 31 to April 3. In addition, English, Italian, and French-language editions of the book will be showcased at the Frankfurt Book Fair this coming October.
Meanwhile, in the spring of 2007 a store dedicated to Jimmy merchandise opened in the Shin Kong Place shopping center in Beijing.
"Don't underestimate the significance of this. In August, the world will come to Beijing for the Olympics. Our store in Beijing will give Jimmy S.P.A. an opportunity to market the brand to international tourists in China." Suncolor president Benson Chang, whose Creative Design series caused a sensation in Taiwan's publishing industry in 2006, has followed the growth of the Jimmy brand and is full of praise for it: "To build and manage a cultural brand and ensure its long-term growth, you have to proceed step by step. The Jimmy brand is today an industrial-scale operation because every aspect of Jimmy's books has been minutely managed and carefully orchestrated."
Culture is good business, but creativity remains the main selling point. Lee Yusan and Jimmy Liao are profoundly aware of its importance.
Jimmy is one of the best selling authors in the Chinese-speaking world. His books have even been auctioned at Sotheby's and his illustrated characters adorn a wide range of related merchandise, including stationery, leather goods, ceramics, kitchenware, jewelry, and consumer electronics.
Back to the drawing board
As Jimmy revealed in a media interview, he is an extremely disciplined artist: "Today, I have to hand in a comic strip draft to Apple Daily and tomorrow I'm supposed to hand in an illustration to Next Magazine. If my creative rhythm is broken, I feel very unsettled. Consequently, I rigorously demand of myself that I must complete at least one illustration every day.... I am very fortunate to have more opportunities to have my work published and noticed than other people. My management company takes care of everything and allows me to devote myself completely to the creative process without disturbance."
"Jimmy has a low-key personality, talking is not his strong point, and he likes his own company. After his life-and-death battle with leukemia and his miraculous recovery he became even more inclined to stay home and avoid public places. He puts all his energy into his illustrations and wants to immerse himself in his creative work. We also think that this is what's most important for him." Lee explains that her operating procedure is to seize opportunities as they present themselves, to help Jimmy to give his best, and to jealously protect his privacy.
"The relationship between a manager and an author is typically one of shared financial interests. The manager helps the author negotiate a good price and gets a good percentage in return. But my relationship with Jimmy is of a different order. Ours is a relationship based on partnership and entrepreneurial complicity." Although Lee Yusan never intended to be Jimmy Liao's "business manager," from the start she proved to be a manager of extraordinary capability and vision.
Jimmy is one of the best selling authors in the Chinese-speaking world. His books have even been auctioned at Sotheby's and his illustrated characters adorn a wide range of related merchandise, including stationery, leather goods, ceramics, kitchenware, jewelry, and consumer electronics.
1999The publication of A Chance of Sunshine creates a new model for picture books for adults and sparks a creative explosion in picture books. The book also wins Kingstone's Top Ten Influential Books prize and is adapted into a film and television series.
2000Singing Jimmy, The Moon Forgets, Singing in the Forest, and A Garden in My Heart are published. The books display astonishing creativity and a wide range of narrative styles.
2001The Sound of Colors is published, wins the 2002 Golden Tripod Award, and is turned into a musical play and film.
2002The Moments, Blinking Seconds, and Love in the Cards are recommended by the Government Information Office. Pourquoi is a number-one bestseller in all major bookstores.
2003年、2004Mr. Wing, Little Troubles, Beautiful Solitude, The Private Me, and Missing My Cat are published. All of these works stand out for their content and stylistic quality.
2005Shiny and Moony and Paradise Lost signal the beginning of a focus on character building. The stories' varied rhythms are different from what readers were used to previously.
2006The Blue Stone and Thank You, Furry Bunny, for a Wonderful Afternoon
2007The Floating Landscape and Don't Blame Me, It's Not My Fault
2008Ten years after his debut as a professional illustrator, The Beginning of the Story and the Best of Jimmy Liao Collection are published.
Jimmy was born in the 1950s and was originally named Liao Fu-pin. Lee Yusan was born in the 1970s, has a degree in Chinese literature from National Cheng Kung University, and has always worked in publishing-related industries. While Jimmy is responsible for the creative side of their partnership, Lee concentrates on marketing the Jimmy brand. By complementing each other's strengths, the two partners have created the global "Jimmy phenomenon."
Jimmy is a social introvert and uses his books to express his innermost feelings. For example, A Fish that Smiled at Me, about a fish that sees the world through a glass bowl, is also about the time Jimmy spent in hospital waving at his friends through a pane of glass. Jimmy wrote The Sound of Colors when he was battling cancer. This colorful illustrated journey was his way of confronting and overcoming his fear of death.
Jimmy is a social introvert and uses his books to express his innermost feelings. For example, A Fish that Smiled at Me, about a fish that sees the world through a glass bowl, is also about the time Jimmy spent in hospital waving at his friends through a pane of glass. Jimmy wrote The Sound of Colors when he was battling cancer. This colorful illustrated journey was his way of confronting and overcoming his fear of death.
Jimmy is a social introvert and uses his books to express his innermost feelings. For example, A Fish that Smiled at Me, about a fish that sees the world through a glass bowl, is also about the time Jimmy spent in hospital waving at his friends through a pane of glass. Jimmy wrote The Sound of Colors when he was battling cancer. This colorful illustrated journey was his way of confronting and overcoming his fear of death.
Jimmy is one of the best selling authors in the Chinese-speaking world. His books have even been auctioned at Sotheby's and his illustrated characters adorn a wide range of related merchandise, including stationery, leather goods, ceramics, kitchenware, jewelry, and consumer electronics.
Jimmy is a social introvert and uses his books to express his innermost feelings. For example, A Fish that Smiled at Me, about a fish that sees the world through a glass bowl, is also about the time Jimmy spent in hospital waving at his friends through a pane of glass. Jimmy wrote The Sound of Colors when he was battling cancer. This colorful illustrated journey was his way of confronting and overcoming his fear of death.
Jimmy was born in the 1950s and was originally named Liao Fu-pin. Lee Yusan was born in the 1970s, has a degree in Chinese literature from National Cheng Kung University, and has always worked in publishing-related industries. While Jimmy is responsible for the creative side of their partnership, Lee concentrates on marketing the Jimmy brand. By complementing each other's strengths, the two partners have created the global "Jimmy phenomenon."
Jimmy is a social introvert and uses his books to express his innermost feelings. For example, A Fish that Smiled at Me, about a fish that sees the world through a glass bowl, is also about the time Jimmy spent in hospital waving at his friends through a pane of glass. Jimmy wrote The Sound of Colors when he was battling cancer. This colorful illustrated journey was his way of confronting and overcoming his fear of death.
Jimmy is one of the best selling authors in the Chinese-speaking world. His books have even been auctioned at Sotheby's and his illustrated characters adorn a wide range of related merchandise, including stationery, leather goods, ceramics, kitchenware, jewelry, and consumer electronics.
Jimmy was born in the 1950s and was originally named Liao Fu-pin. Lee Yusan was born in the 1970s, has a degree in Chinese literature from National Cheng Kung University, and has always worked in publishing-related industries. While Jimmy is responsible for the creative side of their partnership, Lee concentrates on marketing the Jimmy brand. By complementing each other's strengths, the two partners have created the global "Jimmy phenomenon."
Jimmy was born in the 1950s and was originally named Liao Fu-pin. Lee Yusan was born in the 1970s, has a degree in Chinese literature from National Cheng Kung University, and has always worked in publishing-related industries. While Jimmy is responsible for the creative side of their partnership, Lee concentrates on marketing the Jimmy brand. By complementing each other's strengths, the two partners have created the global "Jimmy phenomenon."
